The present invention relates generally to a twist tie fastener. More particularly, the present invention relates to twist ties that provide improved dispensing and storage.
Twist ties are used for various fastening and closing purposes by wrapping the twist tie around material to be bundled and twisting the ends of the twist tie together.
A common form of twist tie provides a ductile wire enclosed in a paper or plastic ribbon extending along the wire. The ribbon increases the surface area of the wire making it easier to handle and less likely to pull through or cut the bundled material.
Such twist ties have advantageous properties that have led to widespread use in a variety of applications. First, wire twist ties are readily applied using either manual or high-speed mechanical operations. Second, multiple fastening and unfastening cycles do not significantly affect the fastening capability of the wire twist ties. Third, twist ties are functional over a wide range of temperatures without a significant reduction in fastening capability.
There are many food-packaging applications where twist ties play an important role because twist ties enable consumers to quickly and intuitively access and reseal a product numerous times. In one important application, twist ties are used to seal plastic produce bags as may be provided at a grocery store. To seal the bag, material of the bag adjacent to the open end is gathered and the twist tie is wrapped around the gathered material until end portions of the twist tie are adjacent to each other. The end portions are then twisted relative to the remainder of the twist tie to fasten the twist tie onto the package.
When twist ties are used in a retail environment, for example for closure of produce bags at a grocery store, they may be provided to the consumer in a loose bundle, for example in a dish or cup. This can lead to waste when twist ties are spilled or multiple twist ties are inadvertently taken.
One alternative to this approach, commercially available under the trade name of Twist Ease, joins many twist ties at their ends along a spine, like matches in a matchbook. Each twist tie can be removed, one at a time, with a slight pull. The remaining ties are held in place so that only one is taken at a time reducing messes and spills. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,500.
This latter approach entails the cost of assembling the twist ties together at their ends with a releasable glue material and requires a special stand to properly support the spine against the force of removing each tie.